Parnethia Antoinette Hague (Vardaman) was born in late 1838 at Dowdels Mill, Harris County, Georgia, the second child of Thomas and Emily Vardaman. Her father was of Dutch descent and served as high sheriff of Harris County; her mother was a native of Scotland and a lineal descendant of the famous Scottish theologian, John Knox, and a great-granddaughter of Jerome Miller, who fought in the Colonial Army during the American Revolutionary War. Antoinette, as she was known, was raised in Harris County, and finished her education there at Hamilton Female College, the first chartered school in that area. She moved to southern Alabama to become a schoolteacher, and lived in that State throughout the War of Secession and for many years afterwards. Cut off completely from the outside world by the Union blockade, Antoinette and her friends and family learned to improvise in providing for themselves the necessities of life, such as oil, sugar, shoes, and clothing dyes. A compilation of her war-time thoughts and experiences, and a virtual "how-to" manual, this book was personally endorsed by C.S. President Jefferson Davis and General G.P.T. Beauregard for its accurate portrayal of the hardships endured by the Southern people in their struggle for independence.